A young man with long, wavy hair stands before a window, gazing directly outward with a calm, self-possessed expression. His face is softly illuminated, with light falling from the left and casting gentle shadows along his cheek and neck, while his pale skin contrasts with the deep blue of his tunic. Both of his hands are visible in the foreground, delicately holding a circular medallion at the lower left of the composition.

Within the medallion appears a painted bust of a bearded saint, set against a gold background richly patterned with red, which contrasts with the subdued tones of the young man's clothing. One finger of the young man rests on a bright grey strip at the bottom edge, creating the illusion that the medallion projects into the viewer's space. Behind him, the window frame is painted in a series of color planes: a uniform grey inner frame, with a blueish tone to the left and a darker grey to the right, so the colors shift subtly across the background.

The brushwork is precise and smooth, especially in the modeling of the face and hands, while the hair is rendered with fine, flowing lines that suggest softness and volume. The composition is tightly arranged, with the figure filling the foreground and the window providing a geometric structure that emphasizes the sitter's presence. Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Roundel was painted by Sandro Botticelli in the 1480s, during the height of the Italian Renaissance. The first modern record of the work dates to 1938, when it was in the possession of Baron Newborough, and it was later acquired by the art dealer Frank Sabin and collector Sir Thomas Merton.